Alana Silver Tongue
by Gee-KayLady
Summary: A new arrival at Camp Half Blood, and she so happens to be Percy's half-sister. She and her shrouded past including curses and all manner of mythical creatures, brings with her a new adventure for Percy and the gang...
1. Chapter 1: Alana's Birth

Percy Jackson fanfic- Chapter 1

One of the most unusual demigods was named Alana Grace Emerson. She was born on the 1st of December 1991. She was the daughter of Poseidon and Calista, queen of the rogue nymph clan Parnicus. Zeus had banished the clan from the Paradise Gardens in Greece for seducing mortals and other magical creatures to reproduce. Only girls could be born of Nymphs, and they were always beautiful. Calista's name meant 'the most beautiful', which was true, however she was evil, spiteful and vengeful. She had long, thick golden hair that reached her waist, enchanting silver eyes and smooth pale skin.

When Poseidon first saw Calista, he was taken with her beauty, and thought she was magnificent beyond compare. Despite this he remained distant to prevent her from seducing him. It didn't take long for her to discover his affections for her and use them to her advantage. Her status as a nymph queen gave her a seductive power that she used to draw him in. He had heard the stories about her and thought, as a god, her power would be mute against him. He was wrong. Calista tried harder than ever to seduce him in order to humiliate him. To make it clear to all the clan and the gods that she could have any man she wanted, even Poseidon.

She tricked him and seduced him, much to his humiliation and the anger of his brother, Zeus, who had warned Poseidon of Calista's seductive power and the sadistic nature of her rogue nymph clan. As an added measure to her humiliation of the god, she allowed herself to get pregnant by their union as a way of forcing himself to face what he had done. Despite his clear distain for Calista after their affair, he showed genuine signs of affection for the child before she was even born, and vowed to defend her forever. This included the dangers of the Parnicus clan. Poseidon planned to take his daughter away once she was born to prevent her from becoming a vicious predator like the others in the clan; however Calista was unaware of his intentions.

Zeus was wary of Poseidon, and told him he could not bring the child to live on Olympus as, although she was not part mortal, she was not a full god. Poseidon tried to reason with him and persuade him to allow the child to live with him in the ocean, but he refused. He did not tell Poseidon why he wanted to keep him from his daughter, but he was concerned of Poseidon forgetting his godly duties in having something to dote upon. Out of the 3 brothers, Poseidon was the most likely to give way to his emotions. He was the most caring. Knowing there was no way of deceiving his brother, Poseidon consented to his will but began working on gifts for his daughter while she was in the womb. He took the spirit of a wise old owl and that of an intelligent dolphin and used them to fashion a shroud which he wrapped around the baby's small heart. This gave her a wisdom and bravery that would match any god. He took the voice of a songbird that sat on the highest treetops and offered it to the child. This meant that once she was born, the girl would have a voice worthy of a ministering angel that people far and wide would flock to hear.

When the baby was born, her mother thought of many names such as Ernestine meaning 'battle to the death' and Deyanira meaning 'capable of great destruction' but Poseidon overruled her and named the baby Alana Grace. A name meaning 'a precious awakening' as all the gifts he made for her and her unique parentage made her something quite special that the world had never seen before. Calista yielded to the name, but warned Poseidon she would do all in her power to prevent him from 'corrupting' her, unaware of the gifts he gave her while she had been pregnant.

The baby Alana had thick golden hair much like her mother and beautiful blue-green eyes that matched her fathers, looking like the ocean from which her parentage originated. Poseidon felt so blessed to have such a child, and could only hope the gifts he gave her would prevent her from becoming a monster like her mother and the rogue clan she was to grow up with. To ease the pain of not being able to stay with his new born daughter, Poseidon went into mourning and visited the mortal world to be away from his godly responsibilities, as they were what was keeping him from her. Not long after his isolation, he met Sally Jackson.

As Alana grew older, she became an increasingly beautiful child. Her father's final wish before leaving her was granted. She was benevolent and was disgusted at the sadistic and ritualistic behaviours of the Parnicus. As an added measure after seeing how unhappy his brother was to leave Alana, Zeus and his wife Hera watched over her from Olympus to ensure she came to no harm. They never told Poseidon, Calista or Alana of their observation, but grew increasingly fond of the little girl.

Alana began amusing herself to get away from the practises of the clan by singing to the mortals with the amazing voice her father had given her before he had left. She had always loved to use it, especially to the delight of the humans, but it wasn't allowed. Her mother, who was as wicked and sadistic as she had been before her birth, told her that she should never sing for the humans again. They were not worthy to witness the miracle of her voice. This being removed from her life left her unhappy and alone with only the creatures in the clan for company. Zeus kept watch over her to ensure Calista never hurt her, but could do nothing as no physical harm had befallen her. He and Hera had to only watch and hope that things would improve for her.

Then, one night, when she couldn't take it anymore, Alana snuck away from the cavern in which she lived with her clan of nymphs. She snuck down to the village and sang for the villagers as part of a festival to honour the gods. When her mother realised she was gone, she descended on the village and demanded her daughter never to sing for mortals again, slaughtering many of the villagers in her anger. When Alana refused, her mother cursed her with a spell that had never before been attempted by any creature. She gave her a silver tongue. Now, if she made any noise, it would seriously harm or kill any mortals and if she showed it to anyone who was neither God nor nymph, it would blind them for all eternity. Not understanding the gravity of the spell, as she was still only 6 at this point, Alana tried to call for help, but her voice led to the whole village's destruction. Zeus, seeing the commotion and feeling guilty at not coming to his niece's aid, he spoke to her and helped her escape. Alana ran away from the village and into the mountains on the East.

Terrified at what she had become, Alana preyed to the God's for help. They couldn't help her by reversing the spell, as Gods are forbidden from reversing magic performed by other non-mortal life forms, but Zeus took pity on the girl. Contacting Poseidon and telling him everything that had happened, he called him to Olympus to help deal with the matter. He gave her two pairs of enchanted ear shields that would shield any mortal being from the sound of her voice. He also gave her two pairs of eye shades that would prevent mortals from going blind at the sight of her tongue, but this was all he could do. Her father, who was full of remorse and grief, also sent her a golden ring that would help her evade detection from the nymph clan and her enraged mother. With these gifts in hand, she was able to run away again without being followed by Calista.

Alana ran to the ocean, where she felt most at home. While she sat on the shore, her father sent a white whale to take her to America where she would be safe and around civilisation. Upon arriving, she got lost and fell into the hands of a man named Walter Emerson, so ran the dock the whale dropped her off. He adopted her and brought her into his home, but never knew why she couldn't talk to him, or even give him an open mouth smile. The Gods, who knew Walter was a good man, sent him a dream to explain who she was and how important her protection was. He vowed of protect her and kept her away from the outside world, educating her himself and doting upon her whenever he could.

All seemed to be going well for a while until, when Alana was 17, the golden ring Poseidon gave her fell off her finger while she slept. She soon recovered it from under the bed but it was too late. The nymphs, who had been scouring the world for Alana for years, descended within minutes, killing Walter. Poseidon spoke to Alana and told her how to escape, but now she had nowhere to go, so Poseidon sent Chiron to take her to Camp Half Blood...


	2. Chapter 2: Welcome to Camp

Percy Jackson's eyes opened eagerly as a new sun rose over his cabin near the vast lake of Camp Half Blood. He hopped out of his bed with haste and got changed in moments, pulling on the first t-shirt and pair of jeans he whipped out of his closet. He normally wouldn't have done this, enjoying his lie-ins, but today was different: it was the day that new arrivals came to Camp Half Blood.

As he walked out of his cabin he saw his friends Annabeth, who was pretty with long blonde hair and silvery grey eyes, and Grover, his satyr protector. When they spotted his approaching, Annabeth waved him over and Percy jogged up to them. He gave Grover a friendly fist bump and nodded politely to Annabeth, who returned the gesture. Together they walked over to the entrance of the camp to welcome the newcomers, who all looked as worried and nervous as Percy had been when he had arrived – minus the Minotaur chasing him. They greeted them for a few minutes, making sure they all got through the gate safely and were introduced to some of their brothers and sisters. That's when Grover spotted something.

"Hey, hey guys check this out." he said to the others. He pointed to their left and their gaze followed the direction of Grover's outstretched arm.

He was pointing towards Chiron, who was walking with a beautiful young girl who had long golden hair and unique blue-green eyes. She was wearing a plain white vest top, revealing the pale skin of her skinny arms, and a long, flowing pastel blue skirt that fell to her ankles. But the weird thing was, he was speaking to her and she was replying with sign language. They three of them studied her for a moment.

"Deaf?" Annabeth asked to no one in particular.

"I don't think so." Percy put in, "See he's talking to her and only she's signing."

"Maybe she can lip read?" Grover suggested but Percy shook his head again.

"No look, sometimes she's not looking at him yet she's still replying. Like she knows what he's saying without looking at him." he pointed out and the others nodded.

"Well whoever she is we'll find out at breakfast. Let's go. I'm starved." Annabeth said, patting both boys on the back and heading for the mess cabin along with the other demigods.

They all headed to the mess cabin and sat down at their usual table. Since what Percy had done the previous year at Olympus, people seemed to be intimidated by him. He didn't encourage it, and never gave off the impression that the fame had gone to his head, but he liked how no one would bother trying to sit with him other than Annabeth and Grover. Chiron entered after everyone else with the strange blonde girl behind him. He directed her to the seat next to Percy and motioned for her to sit down. When she looked hesitant, he whispered something in her ear. She sat there almost reluctantly and didn't say a word, smiling a little out of courtesy at the three friends.

Once breakfast was served, they all dug in quickly like they usually did. As they looked over at Alana, they noticed that she never opened her mouth all the way while she ate. Only slightly, then she pushed the food through her lips with her fork as if she had something in there that she didn't want anyone to see. Soon, Annabeth took the lead, and decided to introduce them properly.

"Um, hi. My name's Annabeth. This is Percy and Grover." she told the new girl, who looked at her helplessly and made a series of motions with her hands.

"Oh." said Annabeth.

"I didn't know you could speak sign language." Percy said but his comment was unacknowledged. The girl motioned again and Annabeth translated.

"She said she knows who we are and that her name is Alana Grace. We should call her Alana." she added as Alana put the final additive to her sentence with an elegant flick of her wrist.

"Well it's very nice to meet you, Alana." Percy said, shaking her hand and smiling kindly at her. Grover reached across the table from next to Annabeth and did the same. The girl smiled, but still didn't open her mouth. Chiron then walked over and smiled at the four of them as they acquainted themselves.

"Ah, Percy I see you have met your sister." he said, fondly stroking the blonde's hair. The girl sighed and looked frustrated while the others looked shock.

"S-sister?" Percy stammered, looking dazed up at Chiron.

Percy could only gawp at the girl before them, who looked forlornly down at her food, not daring to meet their gazes. Chiron looked angry with himself.

"I'm sorry I assumed she would have already told you. Alana Grace is your sister, Percy. She will be staying in the other bed in your cabin. I hope that will be okay with you." he nodded before stomping off, away from the trouble he had accidentally caused. Alana looked up at Percy hopefully. A few moments of silence passed before he got over the shock and spoke again.

"Well... Alana it seems like we'll be spending a lot of time together so I suppose I should learn a little more about you." he indicated for her to start talking. She shrugged hopelessly and began to sign once more to Annabeth.

"She says she can't speak because if we heard her voice we'd… die? Did I get that right?" Annabeth asked, looking at Alana in confusion. Alana nodded and looked at the three companions sadly. Percy thought that it was such a shame that a face as pretty as hers go to waste looking that sad all the time.

"D-die?" Grover asked as Alana nodded again.

"Well, congrats Perce, you have a sister with a killer voice. Bet husbands everywhere would apologise to their nagging wives if they knew that somewhere out there there's a woman whose voice could _actually _kill them." Grover commented. He was abruptly stopped as Annabeth jabbed his side. Alana sighed in agreement, the corner of her lips twitching upward slightly in a slightly amused smile.

"So, why can't you talk to us without killing us?" Percy asked, drawing attention away from the bad joke as he glowered at Grover. Alana started to sign to Annabeth again, who translated.

"She says that she was cursed when she was 6 years old for singing to mortals by her mother."

"Hold on," Percy interrupted, "If you're a demi- god, and you're my sister then that means Poseidon is your dad. Isn't your mom mortal?"

Alana shook her head and Percy nodded, trying to make sense of it all, and failing. Alana continued to sign when she saw his expression.

"She says her mother is Calista, nymph queen of the rogue clan Parnicus." Annabeth told them, "And she detests all things mortal. She tricked and seduced Poseidon to humiliate him and, to further the humiliation, allowed herself to get pregnant so he couldn't deny what he'd done. Alana used to sing for the mortals to use the singing voice her father had given her as a gift, but her mother forbade her to do so. She didn't stop so her mother cursed her so only Gods and nymphs can hear her voice for what it really is, anyone else would die." There was a pause as Alana stopped gesturing, and the other three looked on at her with sympathetic looks on their faces. Percy frowned.

"So you haven't talked since you were 6?" Percy asked, disgusted at what he had just been told. Alana shook her head simply, maintaining her melancholy look.

"How old are you?" he asked her. She held up all 10 of her fingers to him, and then put 1 of them down, to signal 10, then 9.

"You're 19?" Alana nodded to him. She began to gesture to Annabeth again.

"She says that she asked the Gods for help, but they couldn't reverse what Calista had done to her because they were forbidden from reversing curses made by other mythical creatures, but they gave her 2 sets of ear shields and eye shades to shield 2 people from the sight of her tongue and the sound off her voice." She explained.

"Tongue?" asked Grover and Annabeth interpreted again.

"She says that it's actually her tongue that is cursed. It's now made of calgunite silver. It's a rare metal so bright that only Gods and full mythical creatures can look at it without being blinded. That's how she earned her name among the Gods as 'Alana Silvertongue'." she told them as Alana gestured. Percy put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. Alana smiled at him over her shoulder.

"Wow, that must've been really hard for you. I'm sorry." Grover apologised, not looking solemn. Alana nodded to him to let him know it was okay.

"Hey, we're all heading out to do sword training after breakfast, you wanna come with us?" Annabeth inquired, trying to change the subject and lighten the mood. Alana's face seemed to light up, and she smiled and nodded.

"Great, let's go." Percy smiled. The four of them stood up and headed out of the mess cabin to the sheds where the swords were kept.

The four of them prepared for sword practice; stretching and warming up. Percy took out Riptide (the pen sword) and Annabeth got out a sword from the cupboard, she got one out for Alana but she shook her head. She pulled aside her long skirt and pulled out a dagger held in a holster wrapped around her left leg. Its hilt was encrusted with rubies. She pressed a delicate thumb to the biggest ruby and the dagger blade leapt out of the hilt; growing. It stretched into a full length sword, silver to match her name. Percy looked at it and marvelled at its magnificence. It really put his pen sword to shame. Annabeth nodded in approval and lead her out to the field, Percy stepping out in front of them.

"Oh no, you take her on after me. She's _my_ sister." he said cheekily. Alana looked at Annabeth, who smirked and nodded for her to go with Percy as she went to take on some of the sons of Ares.

"Any good at sword fighting?" Percy asked the beautiful blonde, who shook her hand in a wavering gesture as if to say 'not bad'. She and Percy got into battle stance and Percy made the first move, jabbing at her. Alana dodged, turning her back to him and knocking his sword out of his hand without a sound and stepping back. He turned to find her with both swords pointed at him. She smiled without showing her teeth. He nodded in approval and beckoned for her to give the sword back. She complied and stood down.

"OK, no more Mr Nice-Guy." Percy told her, getting ready to fight again. She mirrored him and raised her sword. This time she made the first move. She swung her blade in a circle around his. He tried to keep up, this time actually getting the chance to clash their blades together. Alana whipped around at lightning speed, long blonde hair swishing around as she did so. She hit his blade with such force that it flew clean out of his hand and spiralled in the air before landing in the ground sticking up in the air. Percy looked at Alana, amazed, she was still holding her position and smirking smugly. He grinned at her.

"You really wish you could say something witty to embarrass me now, don't you?" he asked. She nodded cheekily and stood down, she held out a hand and the sword ripped through the air up out of the ground, flying to her hand and landing there back in pen form. She handed it back to him and grinned, again without opening her mouth. He smirked at the challenge and called some of his friends.

"Annabeth, Peter, Lebron, Gary, Tito! Are you up for a challenge?" Annabeth and the sons of Ares bounded over, who had witnessed Alana's impressive display of sword play. They stood beside Percy and faced Alana.

"Here are the rules," Percy started, "If you are disarmed, we win, when you disarm one of us, we leave the battle. Agreed?"

Alana nodded in anticipation, all of them stood ready. Chiron and Grover stopped when they saw the commotion to watch the fight. Lebron made the first move, stabbing at Alana viciously, she reacted and whacked his sword away with such strength that he was sent in the other direction, his sword stuck in the ground, but he was not disarmed as it had never left his hand. As he wrestled to pull it free, Gary and Tito attacked Alana's left. Annabeth, Percy and Peter on her right. She silently fended each of them off, not even grunting as she swung and chopped. It wasn't long before Lebron had recovered his blade and joined Gary and Tito, slashing away as Alana held her defence brilliantly. She spun at lightning speed, skirt billowing around her ankles as she shot her right attackers away the same as she had done with Lebron.

She took the opportunity and turned to her left, cutting Tito on the arm in the split second her let his guard down and snatching away his sword, claiming it. He left the fight as Annabeth rushed back to cover her right side. Percy and Peter split and covered her front and back. All of Alana's attackers jabbed inward, she ducked, sticking her sword in the ground and gripped the hilt, she flew around the air, kicking away her attackers. Peter, Lebron, Gary, Percy and then she twisted away Annabeth's sword with her feet, wrenching her own out of the ground and holding it at her throat. Annabeth left the battle, but wasn't happy, she hit Grover's arm as he giggled at her.

Alana was on a roll; down to 4 opponents she cut and slashed with skill unknown. Next out was Gary as she swung her silver blade with such speed it cut his in half, with the same speed she brought her hand up and knocked the hilt out of his hand. The pieces had hit the ground before he realised what had happened. He barely had time to leave before Alana turned to the other 3. She was half way to victory. She held her blade at each of their throats individually as she waited for a move to be made. Lebron stuck out his blade and she dodged and she raised a leg, stepping it down and kicking him away with the other foot. The sword stayed under her foot but Lebron was thrown away, he left the battle but he kicked the air angrily.

Peter and Percy circled Alana, who twisted again and again to face them one at a time. When she was facing Percy, Peter took a jab, Alana lifted her arm without looking, closing it on the blade. She hooked a leg behind Percy's knees and knocked him over, snatching Peter's sword with her underarm, kicking away Percy's and holding both her and Peter's at his throat.

She had won.

She reduced her sword to a dagger again and lifted her skirt, putting it back in the holster strapped to her thigh. She casually threw away Peter's blade and offered Percy her hand, beaming kindly. He smiled back in bewildered disbelief and took it, getting up. He patted her on the back.

"Yeah, you're my sister." He stated proudly before clasping her hand in his and throwing them both up in the air. The entire camp that had witnessed the event cheered. Alana and Percy nodded to each other happily and joined the crowd to await slaps on the back and high- fives.


	3. Chapter 3: You Are Not Alone

Later that evening, Alana joined her brother and new friends at the bonfire feast. She was receiving many nods of approval and smiles and people were even calling out her name to greet her. She was not used to this much popularity or any kind of popularity at all. When she was living with Walter Emerson, she had been a private person and then some. He had told everyone in their small village that she was deaf, so people didn't bother talking to her as they thought she wouldn't be able to hear them anyway. No one had ever approached her or wanted to strike up a conversation with her, and even if they had she could hardly be whipped into a verbal frenzy. But this was different. Instead of flying under the radar, people were acknowledging her. Even though she still couldn't reply, the people here understood, and were friendly. As she looked around at all these other people who were just like her, Alana felt an overwhelming sense of belonging. She had never felt it before, but she knew what it was without question.

She was snapped out of her train of thought when Percy put a hand on her shoulder. He had a goblet in each hand, and handed one to Alana, she took it and raised it to her lips, careful not to open them as she sipped some of the liquid inside.

"It's good, right?" he asked her as she lowered the goblet and smiled. She nodded.

"Here, try some of this." Annabeth insisted, grabbing a plate for Alana and beginning to fill it with everything on the table. Alana put her hand up to signal for her to stop and signed to her.

_I can't speak, but that doesn't mean I can't eat or that I've never seen food before. I'm not handicapped. _She finished with a silent chuckle. Annabeth laughed.

"Fair enough." She replied.

"What did she say?" Grover asked as he and Percy turned, not wanting to miss out on anything Alana said. His gaze was drawn away, however, when some Daughters of Aphrodite began cooing and waving him over.

"Ooh! Guys I'm gon' have to leave ya. Goddesses of love are calling my name." he drawled in his hip hop accent, hopping off towards them shouting greetings that made the girls giggle in a sweet and sickly manner. The other three smiled and shook their heads as they watched him go.

_Is he always so excitable? _Alana signed to Annabeth.

"Oh, yeah. Definitely." She replied. Percy looked at them, confused.

"Okay, I need to learn _some _sign language or I'm never going to know what you're saying. It's not fair you guys talking behind my back." He chuckled.

After eating by the fair and talking (or signing) to each other for a while, Alana felt like she finally had proper friends she could trust, and it was like she'd known them forever. They began chatting to some Daughters of Aphrodite as they cooed and fussed over Grover, making them laugh at his facial expressions. They then turned their attention to Chiron, who was standing on a platform of large rocks and striking the floor with his cane to silence the crowd. The loud talking and laughing soon subsided and everyone was looking in his direction.

"Warriors! Champions! Students. I would like to thank each and every one of you for being so gracious and patient to the new arrivals today. To all of our previous students, a sincere well done, and to all of our new students, a hearty welcome." He spread his arms as a friendly gesture and the students all clapped and cheered. "I hope you all enjoy your evening and get a good nights' sleep. Tomorrow the training begins. May the Gods bless you all. Thank you." Chiron was applauded again as he stepped down from the platform. The students began placing their plates back on the tables and filtering away to their cabins.

"Make your way quickly and quietly please, children. If there are any new students in your cabin who don't know the way, please direct them." Chiron called out orders over the buzzing and chatting of the retiring students. He saw Percy and Alana together and waved them over, "Percy. Alana. Come here, please."

They did so obediently and stood in front of the centaur, who was an easy 2 and a half feet taller than them. He eyes them both and smiled slightly.

"I take it the two of you are getting along." He said.

"Yeah, yeah we're getting along fine." Percy replied as Alana nodded. Chiron smiled knowingly. It was almost a smirk. Alana and Percy exchanged a confused look in the ensuing pause.

"Good. That's good of course. Percy, will you please show Alana to your cabin? Her room is the one behind the curtain on the left." Chiron informed him. Percy looked confused.

"There isn't a room behind a curtain on the left." He protested. Chiron chuckled.

"There _wasn't_ one. There is now." He explained. "Your father put it there for you."

"He put it there today?" Percy asked, a little sceptical.

"He's a God, Percy. To put it plainly, there's not much he can't do." He said with a satisfied smile as he eyes the two teenager's facial expressions. "Go on, off you go." he urged them to follow the other students who had mostly left the dwelling to go to their own cabins.

As they walked past the other cabins, Alana looked around, but couldn't find a cabin matching the descriptions she'd been given. She'd imagined large grand draping curtains and lots of sea-related artefacts. None of the ones she was seeing students file into looked anything like that. She nudged Percy, who looked over at her.

"What?" he asked.

_Where is it?_ She signed. Percy just squinted and shook his head, unable to understand. Alana rolled her eyes in a frustrated manner, and attempted to explain. She looked around and pointed at the cabins, then shrugged her shoulders in a melodramatic sign for 'where'? Percy's eyes widened as he realised what she meant.

"Oh, right, um. It's right over… there." He place one hand on her back, and pointed the other out in front of them, guiding her gaze. When her eyes fell upon it, her jaw dropped, and she quickly covered it with both of her hands. Percy saw shafts of silvery light penetrating the gaps between her fingers as she looked at their cabin. It was just like she imagined, and better. It was a large log frame work engraved with bronze tridents and omega signs. There were thick, regal curtains draping down from the structure that were too heavy to move an inch in the breeze. It led out onto a jetty that looked out onto the open water of the lake. It was absolutely perfect.

"I'm guessing this part is for you." Percy said as they walked into the 'foyer' part of it. He was pointing to the left. "It wasn't here this morning."

Alana removed her hands from over her mouth and closed it again, still smiling as they both walked over to the deep blue curtain covering the new space. She looked at Percy, who seemed just as anxious as she was.

"What are you waiting for? Open it." he demanded excitedly. Alana grinned, reached out a skinny arm, and gently pulled the curtain to one side. The view on the other side was nothing Alana had ever known.

She and Percy slowly stepped into the room, letting the curtain swing shut behind them. The room was lit by standing candle stick holders, the flames of which lit once they entered. The walls were the same thick deep blue drapes that hung securely around from the sturdy wooden frame. There was a standing wardrobe that was large and grand and matched the woodwork of the structure. Alana didn't think she owned enough clothing to fit in it.

There was a wooden desk that again matched the overall décor. It had its own cluster of candles to light it, but they were sea green and smelled like the ocean. Next to the desk was a tall wooden bookcase full of books of Greek mythology among other things. There were a few ancient looking instruments that resembled guitars on stands in the corner of the room and there was an easel with sketchbooks and other art things piled up next to them. The bed, however, is what drew the most attention.

It was a king-size four poster with satin sheets in various shades of blue and green. There were multiple pillows and cushions by the headboard and silk light blue drapes dangling from the posts. Alana felt like royalty thinking that someone had made this all for her. It was the first and only thing she knew about that her father had given her. She had never met him and she had just assumed he'd just forgotten about her. Apparently not.

"Wow." Percy exclaimed. Alana nodded in agreement. "I assume you'll be okay now?" he asked. She nodded, still staring around in awe and not fully listening to him. After a moment's pause, she turned to him. They both shuffled a little, feeling suddenly awkward and not knowing what to say.

"Well, goodnight." Percy said. Alana nodded with a smile as he turned to leave, then he turned back for a moment.

"Wait." He said, "How do you say 'goodnight' sign language?" Alana stepped up and touched her chin, then laid one arm horizontally. She then stood up the other arm vertically with the elbow touching the horizontal arm's hand. The vertical arm's hand was facing Percy, and Alana tipped it forward slightly. She then motioned for him to copy.

"Okay then well _goodnight_." He signed. Alana smiled and gave him a thumbs up. Percy nodded and exited through the curtain, disappearing from view.

After Alana had put away all of her things and changed into her pyjamas, she peeled back one of the soft sheets of the bed and wriggled in. For a while she couldn't sleep. She wanted to keep looking at the room around her. Looking around, she fiddled idly with the ring on her right hand and thought about her father. Maybe he hadn't just abandoned her as a baby. Maybe he did care. I mean, he cared enough to send her here, and he had built her the most beautiful home. She wished she could see him, just once. That would be enough.

Feeling herself drift off, he leaned over and blew out the candle on the bedside table. The rest of the lit candles in the room blew out at the same time and Alana lay back, resting her head on the mountain of pillows and closing her eyes. As she slipped into her dreams, she could've sworn she heard a voice in her head speaking to her.

_Welcome home, Alana. Everything is about to change for you. Keep your friends close and stay strong. No matter how isolated you feel, know that you are not alone. _


	4. Chapter 4: Some Team

The following morning, Alana woke up and lifted her head, waking in the same position she'd slept; facing the ceiling. As she looked around the room, which was now flooded with the dim sunlight that filtered through the thick draped walls, part of her was overwhelmed that she hadn't dreamed it all. She slowly slipped out from beneath the covers and walked over to the grand wardrobe, opening it and, to her surprise, seeing things in there that hadn't been there the night before. There was a brand new set of armour, including a breastplate and helmet. She regarded them casually, but didn't touch them. She went for another white vest top, and picked a magenta and gold patterned long skirt. It was the 'boho' and 'free' sort of flowy look she usually went for. As she was strapping her small feet into her gladiator sandals, she looked up to see Percy cautiously pulling the curtain back.

"Um hi." He greeted, "I didn't know if you were decent and I didn't really see the point in asking because of the, well… you know." He went to point to her mouth, but thought better of it and put his arm down. Alana nodded, smiling at his blunder.

"Anyway, today we're playing Capture the Flag, so you're gonna need your armour." He informed her. Alana looked back at her wardrobe and reached in, pulling out her helmet. There was a red plume of fur on the top.

"They put you in the red soldiers, huh?" Percy mused, "You're with Annabeth, then. I'm blue." He revealed his own helmet. Alana nodded as she strapped herself into her breastplate. She tucked her helmet under her arm like Percy and walked over to him.

_Let's go._ She signed, pointing to the entrance of the cabin. Percy nodded.

"That much I can understand. C'mon." he agreed.

They walked together to the centre of the camp where the students were all surrounding Chiron, much like they had the previous night at the end of the feast. Percy and Alana found Annabeth, who was wearing her red helmet. When she spied Alana and the colour of her own helmet, she beamed.

"Ha! Tough break there, Perce. Looks like we just got lucky." She jeered at him, whispering so Chiron wouldn't hear her. Perce rolled his eyes and smirked.

"Okay, for those who haven't played before, blue teams against reds. Fight in search of the other team's flag. The first team to have a member capture the other team's flag wins. To your positions." Chiron ordered. Annabeth clasped Alana's wrist.

"C'mon. Just do what I do, okay?" she told her. Alana nodded, leaving Percy and following Annabeth while she fastened her helmet under her chin. She and Annabeth stayed at the front of the pack by the Sons of Ares, who bounced athletically on the balls of their feet in anticipation.

"You and me, we're gonna break of and defend the flag. These guys take care of the warheads with little skills who just wanna bash swords for a bit. The really challenging ones will filter through towards the flag, and with the skills you showed yesterday, I think we could be unbeatable together. You got that?" she asked.

_Please! You couldn't give me a bigger challenge? _She signed with a cocky smirk. She then lifted her skirt and removed the silver dagger from its thigh strap, pressing the ruby so it grew to a sword. The blue team members flinched slightly, having not witnessed her performance yesterday.

"Okay, tough girl! I'll tell you what: _I'll _go and defend the flag on my own, I'm used to that. Lebron, Tito, take some of the other guys and create a diversion. Alana, I want _you _to go and get the flag on your own." She challenged. Alana nodded confidently and signed _that's more like it._

"Their flag is usually on the south of the lake, so I want all you guys heading that way with everything you've got. Alana, you head east and go the long way around. The blue's usually keep their muscle up front so you shouldn't have a problem."

"Ready, warriors?" Chiron bellowed over the noise. "Ready? FIGHT!"

There was a mighty roar as the two sides ran towards each other. Alana went right to work, chopping and slashing away next to Annabeth. One of the blue sons of Ares took a swing at her. She ducked out of the way, rolled away so she stood again behind him and slashed him across the back causing him to fall down. An enraged group of siblings turned on her and attacked. She held her defence beautifully, but she could see a group of blue soldiers peeling off to the south. She tried to signal Annabeth, but she didn't know how since she was busy fending off 4 attackers. Another red soldier must have sensed her distress, as he cut in and began drawing her attackers away.

Giving the other red a grateful nod, Alana began cutting a path towards Annabeth. As she reached her, she jutted out her sword, which collided with that of a blue soldier, blocking it from Annabeth's head. They fought together, cutting and weaving. Alana stepped down hard on one soldiers boot, knocked his head with the hilt of her sword, and then cut him down. She then dropped to the floor to duck another blow, and swung her legs around in a circle, tripping over two more.

Alana then saw a vine dangling from a tree, and got an idea. Yanking it down, she threw one end to Annabeth and made a circling motion with her hand. Annabeth and Alana wrapped the vine around the remainder of their attackers, and then ran behind a large tree trunk, backs pressed to it, and pulled sharply. They heard all the blue soldiers crash against the other side of it loudly. Alana then handed her side of the vine to Annabeth as well and began to sign.

_There's some Blue's peeling off to the south. My best guess is they're going to guard the flag. I'm gonna need a diversion so I can go after them._

"Okay, I got your back." Annabeth said as she struggled with the vine which twitched as the blue soldiers tied by it tried to free themselves. Alana took her end again. Annabeth counted to three and they jerked hard on the vine a final time. After this one, there was no more struggling. They then dropped the vine and ran back around into the battle. Annabeth made quick work of a couple more blues, and then they fought to the edge of an embankment. Annabeth looked knowingly at Alana, who nodded. They let the blue's advance on them, and made them think they had the upper hand. Alana, who was fighting a son of Hermes, let him take a jab at her and jumped off the embankment, making it look like she had fallen. Once she was down, she ran around to the east to find the flag and Annabeth leapt into life, now sending the blue soldiers back with deadly swings.

As Alana reached the south side of the lake, she crouched down and hid in the bushes as she observed the blue's she daw earlier patrolling around the flag. There were three, and they were walking around the flag; pacing slowly in a circle. Alana edged as close to the water's edge as the concealment of the bushes would allow. With her over sensitive nymph senses, she could just about hear what they were saying across the water.

"The blockage is holding strong. Not one of the reds has made it through." One said to the others.

"Now we just have to wait for the messenger to tell us we've made it to the red flag so we can watch Percy win for us." One of the others laughed, causing the others to guffaw too.

Alana smiled knowingly to herself. Thinking quickly, she slowly reached a slender arm into the water in front of her. To her delight, it itself transform into water, and she proceeded to slip the rest of her body in, it too turning into water and blending into the lake. In her new invisible form, she glided to the other surface of the lake, and thought how best to distract her opponents. Possibly the only positive thing about living your whole life in your head was that you grow an incredible sense for thinking of all possibilities for all situations.

After deliberating for a few minutes, Alana looked out to the north, where the other reds would be coming from. There was some shrubbery in that direction that leaned over the water. She stretched out a watery arm and caused a little jet of water to shoot up from the lake and make the bushes rustle. The blue soldiers reacted like lightening.

"Hey, let's go and make sure they're not planning a sneak attack." Once of them said as they all headed over. As they disappeared from view, Alana rose up from the water, reforming into flesh and bone, and walked cautiously over to the flag. She was just reaching out to claim it when a blade rested on her hand, preventing her. She looked around and saw that the three guards had some back, this time with Percy in tow too.

"You know, the best thing about having the son of Poseidon on our side is, he can wait in the water and let us _know _when we're being tricked." The guard who had stopped her said, removing his blade from where it rested on her hand and pointing it at her throat. Alana looked at Percy once again and saw he was wet. He must've been in the water too, probably in case she came along. He smirked at her smugly. Alana pretended to look cautious, then whipped out her dagger and pointed it at the blue soldier, the blade extending so it met with his. He flinched momentarily, and then went back to looking smug.

"I'm not fool. I saw your performance yesterday." He continued, sliding his blade against hers as he got into battle stance. Alana looked up as she saw the other reds and blues approaching along with Chiron. She then looked back at the blue soldier. "That's why I wanted an audience to witness me beating you."

Alana didn't shy away from him; she merely held her ground and cocked her head to the side as an indication for him to make a move. He raised his eyebrow, and then swung harshly. Alana fought back, meeting him strike for strike. She began forcing him back with her enthusiasm and with a violent swing, sliced open his cheek. He coolly wiped away some blood with the back of his hand and stopped the other blues from cutting in.

"No, it's alright. I got her." he assured them. He pulled off his helmet and got back into position. Alana pointed her sword at his throat and shot him a testing look. He gave a throaty laugh then attacked. This time he was a lot more violent. He forced her back, further to the side of the hill where the others stood watching. Alana fended him off as best she could, but it was difficult seeing as his arms resembled cobras and hers looked like noodles in comparison. Her skills and experience couldn't really match his strength.

Once her back was against the side of the hill, she could only defend herself from his blows without having room to attack. She looked up at the cliff edge and saw amongst the crowd Annabeth, who looked worried and flinched every time their swords collided. An idea began to form in the back of her mind. She was suddenly snapped out of her train of thought as the blue soldier jabbed his sword at her. She dived and it sank into the side of the wall. She kicked him away and weaved under his arm, trying to run as he attempted to pull his blade out. He, however, left his sword and held her back, putting her into a headlock and kicking her sword out of reach.

"No, no!" Percy exclaimed under his breath, not wanting one of his teammates to hurt Alana even if it was to win the game. He had said it when he first played the game and he still thought it was true: these kids take camp _way _too seriously.

At first Alana tried to fight against his hold. He was unmovable. Instead she wrenched off her helmet and looked up to meet eyes with Annabeth. She began to make a series of gestures to her. Seeing them, she nodded subtly and snuck away from the crowd. The blue soldier thought she was just flailing at lack of oxygen and didn't want her to pass out. Then it would mean he would win by default. He at least wanted his opponent to be fighting when he beat her. Throwing her to the floor, he pulled his sword from the cliff wall and began circling Alana. She had a hand clamped solidly over her mouth and wretched, coughing and trying not to moan so as not to hurt anyone. Percy looked down on her, feeling as though he should do anything, but he couldn't.

Alana then recovered and crawled towards her sword. She got up and raised it towards the blue soldier, who had his back to the flag. He looked her up and down with an impressed expression on his face, blood still dripping down his neck from the wound on his cheek and dirt covering most of his body.

"You are persistent, I'll give you that." He gave her. She cocked her head to indicate she wasn't interested in his approval. She then threw her sword at him, catching him off guard. He dropped and rolled away to avoid the flying blade, in the process dropping his own. Alana then attacked in hand to hand combat, throwing punches and blows that betrayed her small frame and weak appearance. Her tactic was to blind him with punches in the hope that he would be too confused to fight back, but that hope faded when he threw a lucky blind punch that hit her squarely in the jaw, knocking her away. She made not a sound, not even a grunt.

"Don't think anything you can do will distract me. _Nothing _can break my focus." He boomed as he stood over her lying on the ground, sword in hand once again. She looked up at him smugly, and pointed behind him. He turned around and, to his horror, he saw Annabeth holding the blue flag above her head. Everyone else, who had been watching the fight between Alana and the blue soldier and had missed her claiming it also, looked up. The red soldiers broke into an eruption of cheers and cries. The blues all sighed angrily; the one who had fought Alana threw his sword down angrily. Percy smiled proudly and went to congratulate Annabeth as she threw the flag away. She, however, wasn't interested in congratulation or victory for once. She strode over to where Alana was still lying on the floor in pain, and offered her a hand. She took it and Annabeth hauled her up.

"We were some team, huh?" she said with a smile as Alana caught her breath. She nodded in agreement.

_Next time how about you get the flag _before_ he sucker-punches me, though? _She signed to her. Annabeth laughed.

"Fair enough." She chuckled, pulling Alana into a hug. Everyone cheered again.

Later on in the day, Alana sat on her own by the lake watching her new friends as they practised more swordplay. Percy came and sat next to her on the patch of rocks she was perching on. He took a deep, satisfying breath of the afternoon air and looked at his sister.

"You did good today." He told her. She looked back at him but stayed silent.

"You know that it's just a game, right? I didn't want him to hurt you, and I couldn't do anything to help even though I wanted to." He said, asking for understanding. Alana nodded furiously and gave him a look that said 'Of course I understand!'.

"Good." Percy sighed in relief. He then saw the bruising on her jaw and down her neck.

"You know, you can fix that." He said, pointing at it. She cocked her head to the side, interested.

"It's easy, look. Come here." Percy beckoned her down to the water's edge, and they sat together on the ground next to it. Percy took her hand and placed it in the water.

"Now think. Try to heal yourself. Focus on where the pain is, and it'll make it go away." Alana nodded, and then closed her eyes, concentrating. Percy watched as the water travelled her arm, across her torso, up her neck and over her jaw, healing everything in its wake. When the pain was gone, Alana opened her eyes and inspected herself with a shocked smile. Percy smiled back.

"See. I know it's weird but no matter how much you think you know, you always have power that you don't understand yet. You'll get there though. In time." He told her. They shared a smile and he helped her up. As they did so, a voice caused them to turn their heads back towards the camp.

"Hey there. Percy can we have a minute?" it was the blue soldier that Alana had been fighting earlier. Percy eyed him suspiciously and looked at Alana, but yielded with a nod.

"Sure man, no problem." He mumbled as he walked away.

"My name's Anthony, son on Hephaestus. Sorry about earlier. It's just a game though, I hope you know that. And I'm sorry I got a little carried away. My father's the god of fire. Needless to say I can get a little hot headed." He apologised. Alana nodded in a begrudging acceptance, her face still sour. No one who's just hot headed jeers at people and taunts them like he had her.

"I've heard your story. I don't suppose there are many here that haven't. I know you're not really looking for anyone's approval but I for one and impressed." He continued. Alana gave a sarcastic smile and stalked past him.

"Hey, I know you're not all that crazy about me right now but I'd really like to hang out with you sometime." He called after her, causing her to stop for a moment and look back. Anthony added a nod to show his sincerity and Alana continued to walk away, feeling slightly confused and uneasy.


End file.
